In 2012, the LCD backlight unit market size approximated UR$15.5 billion, down
3.1% from US$16 billion (a YoY decline of 4.2% over 2010) in 2011. The
continuous decline mainly resulted from the sharp fall in the price of LED
chips, the key raw materials for backlight unit. Meanwhile, due to the
insufficient demand for TVs, it is expected that in 2012, the global LCD-TV
market size will be 216 million units, with a growth rate of merely 2.85%.

For backlight unit enterprises, the light guide plate (LGP) technology acts as
the core. As backlight unit exerts great effect on the performance of LCD
panel, LCD panel companies have all held or participated in backlight unit
enterprises, which are usually supposed to have one client of the LCD panel,
e.g. Heesung Electronics and New Optics are suppliers merely to LG Display;
Hansol, DID, DSLCD and TAESAN supply Samsung alone. There are only three
independent large-scale backlight unit enterprises worldwide, namely,
Coretronic, Radiant and Kenmos.

In recent years, the share held by Korean enterprises has continued to decline
with poorer ability to control cost and they need to purchase LGP from the
Taiwanese counterparts with more advanced LGP technology. Taiwanese players
like Radiant obtained 70% of the total revenue from Korea, but in 2008, this
figure slumped to 34%.

For the backlight unit industry, the Open-cell and Hinge-Up which made their
debut in 2011 are not only great opportunities but challenges. Hinge-Up
chiefly caters to the ultra-thin Ultrabook, backlight unit enterprises need to
place the front cover of Ultrabook and LCM into one module, i.e. Module In
Backlight (MIB), and both LCM process and the front cover of Ultrabook should
be completed. This is difficult for backlight unit manufacturers to do the
job, and globally, only Radiant is competent for it, which secures its
significant growth in revenue (more than 40% and 20% in 2011 and 2012,
respectively) against the overall decline of the backlight unit industry.

Open-Cell can also be used in ultra-thin LCD-TVs and table PCs. For more
thinness, backlight unit enterprises must conduct shipment via LCM, so as to
be 1-2 mm thinner than traditional means. Enterprises capable to grow in 2012
all have been provided with LCM assembly capacity.

The LCD panel industry in Mainland China has seen rocket growth in 2012,
accompanied by significant rise in shipments of CSOT and BOE G8.5 generation
lines, but the supporting backlight units come from South Korean and Taiwanese
enterprises, of which, CSOT mainly cooperates with Coretronic Corporation; and
major suppliers of BOE include Japan-based Chatani, South Korea-based On-Nuri
and Nanohitec.

METHODOLOGY

Both primary and secondary research methodologies were used in preparing this
study. Initially, a comprehensive and exhaustive search of the literature on
this industry was conducted. These sources included related books and
journals, trade literature, marketing literature, other product/promotional
literature, annual reports, security analyst reports, and other publications.
Subsequently, telephone interviews or email correspondence was conducted with
marketing executives etc. Other sources included related magazines, academics,
and consulting companies.

INFORMATION SOURCES

The primary information sources include the Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, National Bureau of
Statistics of China and China Customs etc.

STUDY GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

This report provides the industry executives with strategically
significantcompetitor information, analysis, insight and projection on
thecompetitive pattern and key companies in the industry, crucial to
thedevelopment and implementation of effective business, marketing andR&D
programs.

REPORT OBJECTIVES

To establish a comprehensive, factual, annually updated and cost-effective
information base on market size, competition patterns, market segments, goals
and strategies of the leading players in the market, reviews and forecasts.